Chapter 22: Interview (3)

Screech—Thud.

As all the team members entered the labyrinth through the exclusive entrance for Team 8, the thick door automatically shut behind them.

The cool and eerie air inside the labyrinth brushed against our skin.

It was quite an elaborate set.

Under the dim lighting, metallic walls twisted into a complex maze, and mysterious symbols were etched all over.

At a glance, it was a convincing test environment.

“What a phenomenal team, even now.”

I took a moment to catch my breath and looked over the “teammates” who had entered with me.

It was a hastily assembled group for this practical test, and certainly not an ordinary combination.

First was Hanbit, the youngest heir of Jinmyeong Group, known for item sales and shamanistic work.

His seemingly ordinary clothes and accessories were probably enchanted items.

No one knew why he personally volunteered for an exploration team in this frozen wasteland, but he was clearly no average person.

Next was Bora.

A woman whose profession was an exorcist.

Already well-known in the field for independently hunting anomalies, anyone in the business would have heard of her.

Why someone capable of handling anomalies solo had applied to an exploration team was a mystery.

Her gaze held not the nervousness of an amateur interviewee, but the calm and composure of a seasoned exorcist.

The charm pouch at her waist proved her identity.

“This person is the biggest mystery.”

Shun, an applicant from Japan.

There wasn’t much known about him, but Baekho (the company) had flagged him as a “person of interest” in this interview and had requested special surveillance.

Clearly, he wasn’t a typical applicant.

Lastly, there was me — Park Sunja, under the alias Park Soyeong.

A spy from Baekho’s exploration team, infiltrating this test with a fake identity and name assigned by the company.

Honestly, I liked this name better.

“A bit overqualified to be just interviewees, huh?”

Including myself, our Team 8 was clearly no ordinary group of rookie applicants.

Even if a real anomaly showed up instead of an actor pretending to be one, we were more than capable of handling it.

What on earth was Dongto thinking when they grouped us together?

Surely, they hadn’t caught on to me being a spy… right?

Still, I couldn’t help but be impressed by Dongto.

To think talent of this caliber was competing to join their exploration team.

“Alright, let’s get ready.”

While I was lost in thought, Bora spoke up.

She quickly scanned the labyrinth and turned to us.

“Survival or escape isn’t our goal, right? Let’s take out the assigned proctor — the ‘anomaly’ — first.”

No one, not even Hanbit or Shun or myself, disagreed with her.

From the start, our objective had been the same.

Disable this makeshift test’s proctor, then leisurely explore the labyrinth Dongto had created, and pass the test.

We moved in perfect sync.

Hanbit took a slender rope-like item from inside his coat and skillfully installed it on the floor near the entrance, where the shadows were deepest.

It didn’t look like an ordinary trap rope — it seemed to be a special item that caused temporary paralysis upon contact.

Bora pulled out a charm from her pouch — red and yellow mixed — and held it in both hands.

As she murmured a quiet incantation, a faint glow seeped from the charm.

According to her, it would induce a dazed state the moment it touched someone.

“…Does that really work?”

“Hehe, it could even calm a tiger that hasn’t eaten in three days. Want me to try it on your forehead?”

“…I’m good.”

Shun asked in clumsy Korean, and Bora laughed.

It was still hard to wrap my head around how writing on plain-looking paper and chanting a spell could create something akin to a magical item.

Then again, anything related to anomalies or powers was hard to understand.

Shun and I naturally hid in the shadows on either side of the trap.

Our roles were clear.

Let the proctor trigger the trap, become disoriented by the charm, and then overpower him completely.

Thanks to Baekho’s drugs, my physical abilities far exceeded that of the average adult male.

I had even grappled with low-level anomalies multiple times.

Shun’s build also looked more than capable of subduing the proctor.

Everything was ready.

We held our breaths and focused on the entrance we had come through.

The 10-minute mark was approaching.

The proctor would enter any second.

Rumble…

Just as expected, the door to the labyrinth opened.

Footsteps echoed from beyond the entrance.

We held our breaths, preparing to face the approaching “anomaly.”

Step… step…

A man wearing the No. 8 badge walked in from the darkness.

He was wearing an elaborately creepy protective suit adorned with fake weapons and cloth — quite the effort for a mere performance.

Step.

The moment he stepped into the trap zone Hanbit had set—Snap!

The rope hidden on the ground shot up and instantly bound his arms and legs.

At the same time, Bora threw her charm from the opposite side.

Like a magnet, it flew straight to his forehead and stuck with a slap.

“…Clean hit.”

I muttered to myself, stepping out from behind the pillar.

Shun appeared silently from the other side as well.

Now we just had to approach the immobilized proctor and finish the “subjugation.”

We walked toward him, completely relaxed.

But in the next moment, something unbelievable happened.

Snap!

Like an old rubber band breaking, the enchanted rope item snapped easily.

The bindings on Kim Minjun’s limbs came undone in less than two seconds.

Simultaneously, the red charm on his forehead caught fire — not glowing gently, but bursting into dark crimson flames!

Fwoosh!

The talisman burst into flames in an instant, turned to a handful of ash, and scattered to the floor.

It didn’t cloud his mind at all—disappearing the moment it touched him.

“How could my talisman…!”

My feet froze on the spot.

What’s going on here?

Hanbit’s binding item was supposed to restrain at least a Grade 2 or 3 monster for a short time.

Bora’s mental disruption talisman should’ve worked too.

But they had absolutely no effect on this rookie supervisor.

The plan failed.

Should I still go on?

While I stood frozen, Shun reacted first.

He lunged at Kim Minjun with inhuman speed, grabbing the sword-shaped weapon at his waist.

His physical abilities far exceeded my expectations.

“Hrrgh!”

Shun grabbed the sword with both hands and pulled hard.

He must have been trying to disarm him first.

But—

“Guh…!”

Despite pulling with all his might, the sword in Kim Minjun’s hand didn’t budge, as if it were stuck in stone.

The supervisor just stared blankly at Shun, doing nothing.

I could see Shun’s eyes widen in shock.

That’s when I realized.

…Something is wrong.

Our trap had completely failed, and his power far surpassed anything we had anticipated.

That was no rookie supervisor.

Why was someone like that in Team 15 in the first place?

Don’t tell me the Frozen Lands are full of monsters like him?

I wasn’t the only one stunned.

The same shock and clear sense of danger flickered across Hanbit and Bora’s faces.

We exchanged glances.

Continuing the fight was pointless—no, dangerous.

Team 8 quickly picked up on the situation.

The moment we realized we had chosen the wrong opponent, we all simultaneously decided to retreat.

Bora threw a talisman to the ground, and it ignited, releasing a cloud of white smoke.

As the smoke obscured our vision, we all turned and ran deeper into the labyrinth.

But the enemy reacted just as fast—no, even faster than we expected.

“Ugh!”

Crackle! Zap!

Thud.

The moment we turned our backs to flee, a cold mechanical sound and a flash of blue light erupted behind us.

Someone let out a short scream and collapsed.

Even through the smoke, I could see a faint blue glow.

I thought that sword was fake… it was a stun weapon!

The supervisor must have used the sword-shaped stun device to pursue us.

I wasn’t sure if it was a real stun baton or some kind of item.

It was probably Shun who got hit—he was the one who tried to take the weapon.

It’s fine, we have enough distance.

The blue light was far away, even within the smoke.

If we just kept running—

Crackle!

“Argh!”

Another blue flash burst out right behind us.

What?

Someone else was hit.

It was too fast.

We had definitely put some distance between us, yet someone got taken down.

How was he finding people so accurately in this smoke?

I stopped in my tracks.

My instincts told me not to make a sound.

Because of that, the only footsteps left echoing were from the others running.

I was quite far behind.

At that distance, I should be safe.

Tap!

Crackle!

“…Ugh!”

Short footsteps, then another victim of the stun weapon.

I held my breath.

In the end, I was the only one left in the smoke, having made no sound.

Time passed, the smoke cleared, and I saw my teammates collapsed on the ground.

And then, I locked eyes with the man holding the sword, who was scanning the surroundings.

The protective suit that once looked like a goofy imitation of a monster now looked terrifying.

“Shit… We’re screwed…”

The man strode toward me and raised his sword.

Crack!

A searing shock paralyzed my entire body.

There wasn’t even time to resist.

Hanbit, Bora, Shun, and I—all four of us collapsed to the ground without even screaming properly, completely unconscious.

We seriously… messed with the wrong guy…

That was the last thought that crossed my fading consciousness.